Jack McCloskey

John William McCloskey (September 19, 1925 – June 1, 2017) was an American basketball player, coach and executive. He served as the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers and general manager of the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves. As general manager of the Pistons, McCloskey assembled the team that would become known as the "Bad Boys" that won NBA championships in 1989 and 1990.

Early life McCloskey was born in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania on September 19, 1925, to Buelah and Eddie McCloskey. After high school, he attended the University of Pittsburgh, where he played football. He left school to serve in World War II as a lieutenant commanding a landing ship for the Marines. After the war, McCloskey attended the University of Pennsylvania where he played three varsity sports. McCloskey also spent time in Eastern Professional Basketball League (EPBL), including with the Sunbury Mercuries. He was the EPBL Most Valuable Player in 1953 and 1954, and earned four nominations to the All-EPBL First Team (1950, 1952–1954). McCloskey won an EPBL championship with the Pottsville Packers in 1949.

Coaching career McCloskey served as head coach of the University of Pennsylvania from 1956 to 1966, and of Wake Forest from 1966 to 1972. Following that, he served as the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers from 1972 through 1974, earning a 48–116 win–loss record. He followed this stint as an assistant coach to Jerry West and the Los Angeles Lakers. When West became general manager in 1979, McCloskey felt he had earned the right to become head coach, but Jack McKinney was hired instead.

Front-office career: "Trader Jack" In 1979, McCloskey became general manager of the Detroit Pistons. Over the next 13 years, "Trader Jack", as he was known, made over 30 trades, constantly upgrading his team to become a true challenger to the Boston Celtics, one of the dominant teams in the NBA's Eastern Conference. His best-known moves were drafting future Hall-Of-Famer Joe Dumars outside the lottery and rebounding champ Dennis Rodman in the second round of the NBA Draft, trading three players for future all-star center and dominant rebounder Bill Laimbeer and trading superstar Adrian Dantley for Mark Aguirre during the 1988–89 season, a move that helped the Pistons win the NBA championship in 1989 and 1990. The family was featured in an article in the September 1953 Ladies Home Journal, as part of a long running series "How America Lives", titled "Meet Mrs. $10,000* Executive in the Home".

In May 2017, it was announced McCloskey had Alzheimer's disease. He died on June 1, 2017.

Career playing statistics

NBA Source

Regular season YearTeamGPMPGFG%FT%RPGAPGPPGPhiladelphia116.0.333–3.01.06.0

Head coaching record College

NBA